Archive for the ‘Second Life’ Category

I want to share with the three people who read my blog this email I sent back in February to the core team of burn2. I left on my own accord and was not forced out made to leave or fired. I still believe in burn2 and I also believe this event is one of the last great ones in second life.

Greetings team,
I am writing this email after a few months of reflection and soul searching. My life has changed both in sl and rl. I am no longer able to commit to things like I use to be able to. And that’s not fair to the event, volunteers, or to any of you. between my fathers health issues and my personal life and work commitments ever changing.

There fore when the time Diana’s world calms and she is able to once again commit to burn, I will be resigning as the co-lead of DPW.

Diana has shown countless times her deep commitment to the event and the community filling in where needed without question. She has always strived to better the event and make it grow into what it has become and what it will be in the future. You should all trust her decision making skills and let her grow as much as possible she will not let you down I’m sure.

This will wait till after the April fools event and occuplaya have ended. As i have committed to be a part in those events. Unless Diana requests I leave sooner. I know her personal life is in flux currently so to alivate any tensions or commitments she currently has and to proceed in a transitional phase. I plan on being retired by the beginning of may.

It has been a very hard and personal choice to come to. I plan on serving still in a emeritus role for DPW and will still be available to anyone who has questions or is in need of my help in any way. But the time has come for me to move along.
As a personal request I ask that you please keep this email as confidential information till may. But I felt it was best to inform you all now of my future plans. I’m not leaving second life just going to explore other things beyond burn2 on the grid.

Funny how life changes and things we loved to do grow faded. I have nothing but respect for you all. And nothing but well wishes to you, the community and the event.

All creations I’m still holding that can be transferred will be gifted to m2 burner and to Diana for usage as the core, dpw, and Diana deem fit.

Respectfully,

Kev Sweetwater

And so in case you didn’t know I’m no longer a member of burn2 as a departmental leader any more. I wish them nothing but great things and long prosperity in all endeavors and to Diana I say you can do it better than me I know you can make that event come to greater heights than I ever could have.

So not to beat a dead horse I’m writing this blog post, mostly because I’ve been harassed into it by many friends in second life
First lets focus on what a second life birthday party is about. It started in year two of linden lab virtual world as a celebration of what had started as a idea and turned into a 3d virtual world with user created content and events. it was a giant thank you party to those who had started the world and a celebration of where it was going. These parties were hosted by the lindens on various regions till they made special regions just for the celebration.
Each party developed a theme of sorts a common idea that linked most of the event together as a community. An of course a giant birthday cake. One that was so large it required the space of four regions to fit on. Now that’s a big cake. It also included Will Webb’s time capsule the past history of the world created where people shared note cards and well wishes and gifts some at the time were really cutting edge in the start. And people like Will kept the capsule safe and protected even till this day he still holds them safe and sound except for the first one that is currently located under the basement in governor lindens mansion on the mainland.
It was a event where in the business world you would call a stock holders meeting everyone was welcomed and made to feel a part. There were speeches and talks and classes and promotions of other communities and of course music and fun on anything from two to five stages plus those folks who brought their own.
There were also bad things that happened artists upset about policy’s and rules who felt they didn’t apply to them or were being censored over the years. People complaining about huge amounts of lag. Crashing more times than most ever did just trying to sit and listen to a talk or dance at a dj stage. The list can go on and on about both good and bad parts of a sl#b events from to big to to small to just about anything you can think of.
I had the pleasure of being a coordinator for the last official linden hosted event sl8b and to work with some really great people. My role was to design a place for this event and lay it out and map it. And when your in the high 20+ region counts that’s more than one person can do. Thankfully we had some great passionate volunteers who helped with everything from getting hundreds of slurls to walking the sims checking for proper settings. And thank god for the linden moles who worked tirelessly on making sidewalks and paths and sim crossings function. And to some of those great volunteers Rails Bailey, Dev Chaos, Diana Renoir, dmom2k, honour, dawny and the list can go on.And to the lindens who kept the sims up as the event started an the influx went from 20 people on the sims to almost 500 in minutes then 1000 and trust me they worked hard keeping the sims running even if the lag was off the charts.
I had the task of finding content creators for large scale parts of the event. This year I had chosen Paige Raven and KT sakuima to be the stage builders and we choose Tao Mistwalker to take over the duties of head baker and they did things on a scale that were so impressive. KT made a giant clockwork stage as best I can call it with a huge gear and a moving platform floating on the sea. Paige made a small village with houses and a mayors office and stores full of free gifts. We had a team designed and maintained by a resident that did a full circuit of all the regions automatically and gave you information about each space and what it was and who’s creation you were seeing as you rode by.
My fellow resident organizer Doctor Gascigone is for lack of better words a superhero running for days on little sleep managing people, stages, complaints and lag issues and working hand in hand with our linden counterparts. He is truly a master event planner in second life who doesn’t always get noticed or thanked but a man who does so much for the world we all love that he should be appreciated for his tireless effort and ability to smile and laugh while the world crashes around all of us. And then work on rebuilding it better than before.
Sadly my real life took over just before thee event was to start so KT stepped in and took over my slack and pulled the rope with Doc and others as well to make a great event happen.
So now this year with the end of hosted parties I know many people are sad and upset and want to bring it back and have been all over twitter and Facebook saying someone should do something the lab should make it happen or give us land and let us run it again. But that isn’t where the world we
enjoy is heading. So I say this think about for Americans the forth of July we all celebrate it every city has a party or event towns get together and watch fireworks. Together but separate. Globally we all celebrate new years around the clock face again together but separate.
So I think all we need is for one land Barron to gift the world a place for a kiosk where people can find events and direct tp to them and still allow us to celebrate separate but together.
This is where we make a choice on where our world is going to be.

I want to one more time thank the great volunteers too many to mention them all by name for their past work and friendship and I hope one day we will all be wearing ugly shirts and fighting the lag monster and crashing together as we have a fight in a giant blueberry pie.

And so the light came upon a lonely prim a small box sitting on a bit of land the stands full of spectators cheering for friends and excited to see what would happen. Four shadows appear walking forward. The stand erupt as they draw into view and they sit next to the box. The box used to create a world. The box we all can make, but this one is about to share a secret. The emcee takes the stage area an begins their introductions giving small bios about each competitor and then after the cheers have died down. He says those magic words ” today’s theme is …..”

About a year ago I challenged myself to create a build or work of art with just prims and limited use of sculptie objects no more than 4 and they could not be main features of the creation. And I set a time to finish one hour and at the 59:59 second point I stopped and looked at what I had made. It was a marvel to me and those around to see what one hour can be used for in second life.
My latest project I’m self curating and hopefully will be able to get a grant for is speed building where builders either solo or in teams get a weekly theme minutes before the event and then create their work all while people watch on shouting advise some good some bad and after the time limit ends the participants explain what they made and why it fits the theme. Then the audience votes on the builds. The winner moves along to the semi finals and then if lucky the final competition.

More often than not I speak with friends and fellow content creators and they all say the same thing. I had to close my sim or my store because I don’t get the traffic I need due to marketplace.
Regions use too be themed, some had great themes others not so great but when you went looking for the thing you needed or desired it was a experience not a website three clicks of a mouse and a box arriving in your inventory.
You went to the sellers store and wandered around looking at vendor boards looking at static models and exploring. Then after shopping was finished we use to leave the store and walk around the region. See what else was there good or bad. Many regions had rides and games and other things too offer. I have personally found many creators in there stores willing to talk and explain their goods and offer demos of them before you purchased or not.
Today we login to the website enter a keyword and scroll. Creators of unique content no longer need stores and themed sims to entice people in to buy things or clubs to keep them there.
Marketplace when it was slx wasn’t as wide spread you had to locate terminals too fund you account on regions I had a few favorite spots I use too visit to do that. Now it’s linked off your balance and you can shop while sitting on your fat avatar ass watching porn for that perfect outfit or item.
The winner in marketplace is linden lab, not the content maker. Yes it makes accounting easy and sales tracking simple because they run your metrics but they also take a percentage of your sales and charge you for a featured listing if you like. In the old days you made a classified ad and picks and had folks there all the time to increase your traffic counts showing the popularity of your items. And yes many cheated at this with bots sitting around to just skew the numbers unfairly.
My rule was always unless I know this is legit I won’t bother going there to shop. I use to skip the top ten on the search list and go from there and always got what I was looking for.

So I propose this remove your content from marketplace re open a store theme your sim and get back to basics it better in the end for everyone. Sellers and consumers alike. Enjoy your second life again. Not a web page

So the LEA is running a new event where they are gigging sims to artists to allow them to create works and show their visions on a platform where money won’t be a issue with gifted sims. Here is my proposal.

A walk through the life of a child through adult hood featuring the views of joy and pain, loss and discovery. An immersive quest of discovery as you wander through the looking glass and view the soul of a special child as they become an adult.

Phase one would be the baby years, self discovery and the acknowledgement of love and affection through visual input ( a child’s room with toys and a crib showing security and safety) and sounds.

Phase two would be childhood, featuring the view of a 10-year-old child going to school and trying to fit in but being made a outsider; never accepted due to personal issues with learning and physical status as a weak, over-weight child in a class room setting where the child is involved in a fight with a few other students because they feel he isn’t worth living in their world)

Phase three would feature the child, now a teenager, experiencing a high-school summer and his first love ( a sandy beach with perfect surf and sun; him and a girl falling in love)

Phase four would be the loss of love in his life with the death of his mother around the age of 19 (a closed casket, flowers, incense burning; a weeping young adult in a chair alone and unable to express his grief)

Phase five: a rediscovery of acceptance with a woman who cares for him, who he marries ( features two scenes: one of them together in a intimate dinner setting staring into each others soul, and a wedding venue dancing together )

Phase six would feature a view into his adult life: work, family, house, bills, the lack of his mother in his life and a marriage collapsing ( him in a bar alone drunk, seeking an outlet for his pain through drinking heavily and fighting)

Phase seven would be him taking his life ( the man standing on the edge of oblivion, staring into his life, ready to end his internal pains and suffering ( him on the roof top of a building ready to jump; as he stands, the things in his life flash by in a montage of changing visuals featured prior in the build)

Phase eight: a baby is born ( his ex-wife now widowed giving birth to his child and his shadow staring at it from the neither regions of the spirit world)

This immersive build would be display areas that the visitor can enter into and become a part of as an observer in the shadows. It would need to be set on a full region to accommodate the settings and set the proper mood.

A few more than 24 hours remain till the official opening of burn2 in second life. I wanted to take a moment and give some information on how to best enjoy the burn and the playa.

– if your a long time resident of second life you know prims, flexible prims, sculpties, and scripts cause lag. Take off that hair, toss the boots, wear simple clothes and remove those Huds and animation overrides (ao’s) it will help

– talk to people all people be nice and friendly ask questions and make friends.

– explore let the playa guide you wander the roads see the sights take photos and enjoy it

– visit the schwag tent for all kinds of free gifts from the burners

– thank a volunteer some spent weeks, months and a entire year on making this happen. They deserve a thank you.

– be open and free express yourself, become a participant, burn2 isn’t a visitor event it’s a participant event we all make it what it is in our own way.

In the end before you leave stop an look around you and know your a part of the community and this is your event.

Wandering the virtual playa at burn2 this year I’ve seen many great things growing and becoming part of Black rock city’s virtual twin. I’ve seen art cars and builders and people sitting under shade structures, and I’ve also seen new residents of second life discover their soul on the playa.
I met a new resident who is less than a month old who has grand visions of creation and a need to develop a story they want to tell the world.
I’ve been creating content in second life since 2008 as kev sweetwater building some unique and stunning builds and also some never to see the light of day. I am always taken back when someone compliments my creations because in my mind they are just basic but they continue to say things like they are soul shaking and emotion bringing and all have a piece of you in them.
And some do some have hundreds of hours in them some have 15 minutes in them. But to me they are not always what I feel they should be. I am not on the level of some of second life’s great artists and creators, but they are mine and for that I’m happy to have made them.
So I spoke with this new resident and took them on a tour of a few art builds and could see their desire to create content like that. And in a way I think they might have a chance with it but I also fear the influence of them on new content creators trying to replicate what they have viewed, making it a copy and not something that is part of them.
My first build in second life was a child’s castle basic simple small but cute I sold three over time and never really remembered why I was proud of those prims I slapped together but in a way I am.
As I continued to wander the playa I noticed statements and creations in some builds and in some I saw sterility in their creation. All are beautiful and unique but not soul touching. Then I came across a few campers just having a conversation about nothing important an hear the words ” how can we compete with all this great art around here” so I knew I had to stop and say a few words.
To them I stated art is what makes the creator happy it can be the ceiling of the Sistine chapel or the graffiti behind the local Gas station to the maker it’s a form of art both totally different meanings but both thought invoking. If we all made the same art then it wouldn’t be art it would be cookie cutter creations.
They all got very quiet then one stated so when you create things like we see here all over what inspires you to make them. I said some are ment to have functions like center camp no it’s not a exact replica of the real camp yes it fits the form but it’s my inner souls ideas of what it should be. Another person said then explain why you choose a random creation for the Tokyo stage I said to me it is about inner conflict and tensions I feel in life the chains holding me down the fire trying to melt through them and the stage lifting higher every day because the fire in my soul is sitting below it encased in chains but breaking past them to lift it up.
I said create what moves you and then explain why and you will be ok, or don’t let the viewer try to find meaning in it for themselves.
I look forward to seeing their creations and the new residents camp site she has been focused on for days now finished to a point of inner peace.
We all are individuals in art and life and community we are what makes it all work in harmony create something that pleases you and let the world see it.

So I’ve started thinking about Burn2 in Second Life and what I’m going to create this year that is i have a love of high quality things and of late it’s micro brew beer created in a artisan manor. So I bring you Black Rock City Brewery. A realistic re creation of a brewery and of course a bar serving free drink to all who visit this in Second Life. Construction has already begun on this build and I anticipate it will 4 months to complete to a showing level. So expect updates pictures and just good old ventilation over when things don’t play nice.